This blog reflects my views on learning and memory. Typically, I write summaries of research reports that have practical application for everyday memory.I will post only when I find a relevant research paper, so don't expect several posts a week. I recommend that you use RSS feed to be notified of each new post.
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Copyright, W. R. Klemm, 2005. All rights reserved.

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Working Memory Executive Control

Do you consciously monitor your working memory? That’s the
limited-capacity memory you use when looking up a phone number, for example. If
you fail to keep the numbers actively in mind while dialing, you may have to
look up the number again. In other words, do you check yourself to see if you
are still paying attention to what is in your working memory? Is your mind
wandering away from what you are trying to hold in working memory? The cure is
to deploy your brain’s innate capacity for executive control over working
memory.

For more complicated memory chores than dialing a phone
number, are you consciously aware of updating what is in your working memory at
a given moment with new information? Do you think about being able to recall
information you have just received—as when you are reading? Or do you ever
willfully suppress what is in your working memory—as for example, expunging an
unpleasant thought.

These questions deal with how well you are consciously aware
of the likelihood you can recall what you are experiencing. I suspect that most
of us exert some conscious executive control over working memory, but not
nearly as efficiently as we could or should. Does it matter? Well yes, because
controlling what is in your working memory affects the ongoing thought
processes that are using the information that is in working memory. Moreover,
how well you monitor your working memory affects how well the information
registers in your brain and how well it can become consolidated into a more
lasting memory.

I explain the consolidation process and ways to enhance it
in my book, Memory Power 101.

Executive control of memory is relatively new in memory
research, but one group reports studies suggesting that such research will
prove fruitful. A year or so ago, this group’s poster presentation at the
Society of Neuroscience meeting intrigued me, and I am delighted that the work
has now been formally published.

One of their experiments evaluated listeners’ ability to
monitor their moment-to-moment working memory storage capacity as new
information arrived. As they listened to recorded word lists, experimenters
told the subjects to pause the input at the maximum point that would still
allow them for perfect real-time memory recall. That is, they pressed a key to
pause the input of words in the list at the latest point at which they believe
they would have perfect recall. Interestingly, all subjects paused the
recording consistent with their known working memory span, as had been
determined in pre-experiment testing. In a follow-up experiment, experimenters
reduced the sound volume of the word list so that more effort had to be exerted
to perform the task. Under these conditions, subjects were much less accurate
in matching their listening to their natural working memory capacity and thus
their learning was not optimal.

Obviously, such results suggest that making tasks more
difficult can degrade thinking and learning. Teachers and professors who speak
softly or with foreign accents should take note. Whatever benefit accrues from
the challenge to pay better attention under difficult situations is offset by
limitations in working memory storage capacity. Examples of degrading
influences in addition to sound volume in listening to information include:

Listening is made more difficult by:

·Extraneous noise

·Unfamiliar speech accents

·Speaking too rapidly

·Speaking too softly

·Simultaneous presence of visual stimuli that
conflict or distract

·Irritating or distracting mannerisms of the
speaker

Reading is made more difficult by:

·Font and page design selection

·Convoluted syntax, awkward sentence structure

·Unfamiliar vocabulary

·Distracting visuals

·Wordiness, poor grammar

·Poor reading technique (tracking with finger
movements, random eye fixations, small fixation span (a few letters or one word
at a time)

In all situations, an important factor is whether the
listener or reader has control over the speed of information presentation. Thinking
and learning are compromised if a person has no control over chunking of
information input and matching the input to their working memory storage
capacity.

Another factor, not considered in this study, is the
likelihood that people differ significantly in conscious executive control
capability. We know, for example, that some people can hold focus much better
than others can, and this certainly affects their ability to optimize working
memory storage of information input.

Can working memory executive control be trained? There are
already effective training protocols for expanding working memory capacity (as
in the number of items you can hold in working memory). I suspect that we will
soon see training programs to enhance executive control of working memory.

To summarize, you can optimize thinking and learning by
willfully controlling the ease and convenience of information input as well as
by how well you have developed a habit of conscious executive control.

1 comment:

Dr. Bill, thank you for this post. Could you reveal some light upon the possible training games for developing executive control of working memory? Would it be something like holding your attention on some object in mind (as meditating on a cube, for instance)?